Well, hello! And Welcome to My Little World of Weirdness!
I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be!
Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make!
"Speaking"
*Stress/emphasis*
//Thinking//
Guardian Beast of the Seal, Wimpy, Scaredy Cat.
By Dr Megalomania.
Part 5 - I'm not related to a toaster . . . am I?
The next few days Kero was either in a deep slumber or he would be barely conscious. This may have been the only contact any of them had with the lion, but for Sakura and Yue; it appeared to be enough. Sakura returned to full force, she was no longer pallid and ran about the place like usual, Tomoyo (of course) began to film her every movement. Except when she was with Syaoran, Tomoyo still wanted the handsome Chinese boy to admit his feeling to her best friend. Meilin wasn't as possessive over Syaoran as she had been acting, in fact she was very ready to give Syaoran a push in the right direction, even though sometimes it felt more like they were pulling the stubborn boy to the inevitable!
Yukito and Touya were just content to look after the younger teens, and were thankful that they were all on holiday. The group could all put their full energy into getting Kero better quickly. Yue hadn't been heard much from since he had transformed away shortly after making sure Kero was comfortable.
At the dinner table one night, Syaoran brought the subject up. "Yue's been a bit quiet lately . . . is he okay?"
Yukito carefully balanced his bowl atop of the pile he was amassing. "Hmm?" He said distractedly as he leant over the table to get some more food.
"Thank goodness," said Meilin quietly to Tomoyo, "That we are using paper plates! I'd hate to have to wash up after him!"
Yukito smiled as he pretended not to hear the little red-eyed girl, he tucked into the hot stew happily.
Syaoran poured himself and Touya another drink; Touya nodded his thanks, as the brown-eyed boy repeated himself louder, "I said, is Yue all right? I mean; nobody has seen much of him since Kero woke up."
Yuki paused; he stared at the younger boy. Syaoran frowned, "What?"
Yukito continued to stare, then his head dipped slowly as if it suddenly weighed a lot, his eyes slid shut and his fringe covered his brow. The group looked at his in concern, there was no full transformation taking place. After a few quiet moments, Yuki's head rose slowly, he breathed in and regarded the group coolly. His usually warm amber eyes had taken a serious glint as they fell on Syaoran. "I'm fine;" Yuki's voice was now cool like the judgement maker's.
Touya was taken back by this, "Yue?"
Yuki flickered his gaze at Touya, in Yue's usual manner. "Yes?"
"Why are you in Yuki's body? Where's Yuki?"
Yuki's eyes flicked slightly and their warmth returned, "I'm fine To-ya!" Yuki's voice was now his own again.
Meilin blinked and asked the question everyone was thinking, "What is going on with you two?"
Yuki's eyes crinkled with warmth as he explained, "Well, Yue's a little tired--- I most certainly am not!" Yue snapped as he interrupted. Everyone except Tomoyo gapped in shock as Yue and Yuki had their little argument, Tomoyo (of course) was setting up her camera, "How kawaii!!" She gushed.
"Bah!" Barked Yue before Yukito's head dipped once more. Touya reached over to grasp Yukito's shoulder, as the snow bunny looked up once more. Yukito's warm smile and gentle eyes reassured the group it was just Yuki now.
"What happened there?" Asked Sakura quietly.
"Ooohh. . . Yue gets like that when he's sleepy." A deep grumbling voice said from the doorway. Sakura turned to see Keroberos sitting there, shoulders drooping, and smiling tiredly.
"Kero-chan! What are you doing here?!" Tomoyo jumped to her feet and rushed over, "You should be in bed."
"I'm so hungry," he whispered, and gazed longingly at the table, "I feel like I haven't eaten in days . . ."
"You haven't" said Syaoran simply as he stood. He picked up a spare plate and piled it with a few simple pieces of meat. As he past Yuki, the snow bunny's head dipped again. When Yuki's head rose again, he glared at the lion with barely held disapproval, "You should be in bed!" He snapped.
"But I'm so hungry," Kero yawned weakly. "You're all eating without me . . . I could smell the food from upstairs . . . and it smelt like you were all having fun without me . . ."
Yue folded his other form's arms and glared at Kero, "We didn't know you were awake . . . if I had, I would have brought you something."
Kero nibbled at some of the meat Syaoran fed him and looked thoughtfully at Yue's other form. He swallowed, "I'll go back . . ." he offered comprising, " . . . if you come upstairs with me and get some sleep, you're exhausted . . ."
"I most certainly am not!" Yue snapped then flushed a deep red. In Yukito's form he couldn't quite control his facial expressions.
Kero yawned, "That's one of the conditions, Yue . . ."
Yue's blush receded somewhat as he asked, "What's the other?"
Kero's head lolled slightly towards Syaoran, and he grinned lazily, "That the Gaki continues to hand-feed me . . ."
Sakura smiled, "Of course!"
Syaoran glared at Kero, "Awww . . ." he said sarcastically, "You are getting better after all, aren't you?"
Kero smiled, and went to reply but his eyes rolled back and his paws slid out from under him. "Umpft!"
Once Kero was safely upstairs . . . "I'm deadly serious now!" groaned Touya as he, Syaoran and Yuki hauled the sleeping lion up the stairs, "He is *so* going on a diet when he gets better!" . . . Sakura turned to Yuki, "What's wrong with Yue?"
"He's tired," Yuki explained quietly, "We tried to transform at the table, but we couldn't manage the full thing."
"The adrenalin that has been keeping him awake must be wearing off then." Said Tomoyo matter-of-factly as she passed them, she crouched down by Kero holding a small plate of food. She cocked his head to look at him; "I some how don't think he'll be eating anything tonight."
"Good!" Groused Syaoran.
Sakura looked once more at Yuki. "Will both of you . . ."
Yuki's head dipped once, his eyes shutting and opening quickly. He looked at Kero's large sleeping form as he spoke, "We'll be fine, Mistress." Yuki's voice laced with Yue's and combined to create a soft, yet cool, friendly, yet respectful tone. Sakura put her hand on Yukito's arm and lead him away from the rest of the group. She pulled him into the corridor, "I . . ." she began quietly, Yuki/Yue looked at her, his face betraying Yue's tiredness under Yukito usual happy countenance, this sight strengthen her resolve, "Yue. . . I command you to sleep tonight."
She pursued her lips together, and stared at him intensely, it was the first time she had issued an order outside of an emergency. The cool guardian always seemed to be more powerful than she, and she had a hard time believing that she was the one in control.
Yue nodded once, "Yes, Mistress . . ." he murmured, and Yukito's head dipped again, Yuki smiled, "Thank you." He cast one more look into the bedroom where his true form's brother lay then glided softly past Sakura towards her brother's room, he paused in the door way and looked at her. For a few seconds he looked as if he was listening to something, then smiled, "Yue . . . wishes me to say . . ." Yuki dipped his head once respectfully toward her, "Good night, Mistress, sleep well."
Sakura nodded her head in a similar fashion, "You too . . . to the both of you."
As the being in her brother's doorway paused one more time and smiled at her, Sakura wasn't entirely sure who was smiling . . . It was a warm smile like Yukito's but it had shades from Yue's own repressed expression.
The next morning Syaoran went into the kitchen early to start breakfast. He didn't admit it aloud but he was glad that Keroberos had finally woken up and proved that the sickness that had taken him wasn't as serious as they all feared it would be. He knew he wasn't only glad because the effect had cheered Sakura up immensely, and because it was no longer a strain on Yuki, but also because it meant the plush toy he had played 'Insult-and-bite-my- finger' with for the last few years was going to be well.
He was still a little drowsy, and was just rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, when the kettle passed itself to him, "Thank-you." he muttered as he turned to fill it in the sink.
"Oh, already done that," the kettle quite cheerfully informed him.
"Oh . . ." Syaoran turned and put the kettle on. He then turned to the stove, to find it was already cooking a full breakfast.
"And I've already started," the stove told him quite gruffly.
"Oh . . ." Syaoran reached into the breadbin and pulled out a couple of slices.
"I've done that too, my cute little descendant!" The toaster cried with some great amusement.
"Oh . . . thank you . . ." Syaoran stopped and turned back to the bread bin, "Wait . . . I'm not related to a toaster . . ." Syaoran peered at the toaster, " . . . am I?"
The toaster snorted with laugher, and the kettle said to the stove, "He really hasn't woken up yet, has he?"
The stove sighed sharply, "And he wonders why he is not the Card Master!" It spoke to the toaster; "He thinks he's related to a toaster."
The kettle came to a boil, and, as Syaoran continued to stare at the talking toaster in wonderment, passed him a steaming cup of coffee. "Here," it sang bemusedly, "This should clear your head."
"Thank you . . ." he muttered, as he took a sip. His eyes widened as the strong coffee slid down his throat. Then he winced, the coffee was close to undrinkable, he like his coffee black and strong but not so strong that it needed to come with a miniature crowbar to pry your fingers off the cup. He blinked as Ruby moon came swimming into his vision, she grinned. "Good morning . . ." she said, "Still think I'm the kettle?"
Syaoran frowned in confusion, and glanced at the stove, Spinel glance over his shoulder as he propped himself up on his hind paws to peer into the frying pans. He shook his head at Syaoran disapprovingly; "You really do need to get better at waking up."
Syaoran turned to find Eriol standing, leant against the counter near to toaster. He tried for all of six seconds to keep a straight face, "Maybe . . ." he laughed, "We should trace our family history . . . maybe there is a toaster in there somewhere . . ."
Once breakfast was finished, the rest of the house was woken, with the exception of Yukito and Keroberos. "So . . ." began Eriol as he sipped at his tea, "I feel Keroberos . . . he's recovering slowly."
"Uh-huh!" Said Sakura cheerfully; "The other day we came down and found him trying to get a pudding out of the fridge . . . the only problem was he had fallen asleep before he could eat it!"
Eriol laughed, "That sounds like Keroberos."
Tomoyo smiled; "Have you found anything in your books that could help him?"
Eriol looked down at his plate, "No, I haven't," he said with disappointment, "I simply never took into account my guardians would ever fall ill. Therefore I assumed that they would be able to recover from any illness as they would any injury . . . I never cast any spell that would strengthen either of their immune systems . . ."
Nakura put her hand over Eriol's, it was clear that the young boy had stayed up every night searching hard for a cure, "That's why we're here today!" She said quickly, she nodded strongly; "We're going to help take care of Keroberos."
She cast a sidelong glance at Spinel; the two had other reasons for bring Eriol here . . .
A soft knock at his door caused Spinel to look up, "Come." He said softly knowing who it was.
Ruby entered in her false form, they had taken to their false forms during the night so not to disturb their Master, and to limit his perception that either of them was moving around.
"Spinel . . .?" He shuffled up on the bed and indicated that she should sit down. She was quiet and looked as if she was on the verge of tears, it wasn't the first night she was like this, ever since they had found out about Keroberos' illness, the Master had locked himself in his study, pouring over all of his old books, and the new ones he had written since their creation.
Both of the two guardians would take it in turns to creep up to the study and peer thru the door, to check on him. Sometimes they found him working diligently, scribbling away at a notebook, sometimes they would find him screwing a paper up, rejecting the spell he had worked out just as he had several others. Times when they would find him asleep on his books, and times when they'd find him gazing worriedly out of the window. One time Spinel had found him gently stroking a page from a book they knew only as his Oldest Book, they knew the book contained things from his past life . . . feathers from both Yue and Keroberos, a lock of hair from Yue's fringe and a lock from Keroberos' tail and the detailed pictures he had drawn of them before he had created them and after. Or another time Ruby had found him holding the Oldest Book close to his chest, one elbow leant heavily on the desk, and his fist pressed hard against his mouth, staring hard at the rejected pile of spells and notes, dejectedly.
"Spinel . . ." said Ruby, she only used his name properly when she was upset, "Spinel . . . he's crying again . . ."
Spinel shoulder's slumped, it was distressing for them to think that he was upset about something that they could neither help nor solve.
"What are we going to do?" She dropped off the bed to kneel closer to him, "We have to do something, he's not sleeping or eating properly . . ."
Spinel folded his arms, and stared out the window, "We'll take him to see the Card Mistress . . . perhaps, since he can't find a cure, perhaps caring for the guardian beast with the help of the others will help . . ."
. . . Nakura looked at her Master, it might have not been apparent to the others seated around the table, but the boy magician was paler than usual. They had left an hour before sunrise, and had come straight over to the house. They had left so early so the Master could look in on Keroberos without the others bothering him. As Ruby and Spinel moved quietly around the house doing little jobs such as tidying and preparing the day's meal, he had sat with Keroberos quietly, whispering his apologies and stroking his fur.
Spinel pulled the gathered group's attention away from Eriol again by stating loudly, "If . . . you do not mind that we stay here as well . . . it would be very draining on us to fly here every day!"
As Touya answered the blue panther, Tomoyo glanced at Eriol, although his guardians were trying very hard to distract attention away from him, she had noticed what they hoped to conceal. She stood, "I'm going to get some more food," she glanced around the table needlessly as if looking around for someone to help, her eyes fell on Eriol. "Eriol? Would you mind lending me a hand?"
He glanced up from his plate and nodded. He followed her silently.
"Are you all right?" She asked him quietly, as they walked the short distance to the kitchen.
He thought about it for a few moments, "Yes . . . I am now." He blushed, "Is it really that obvious that I'm having a rough time of it, or are Ruby and Spinel trying too hard to hide it?"
Tomoyo chuckled a little, "A little of both." She sighed, "I'm glad he's getting better . . ."
Eriol watched the purple haired girl closely as she moved around collecting the promised food, "Must have been hard . . ."
"What?"
"Pretending that you knew it was going to turn out like this," he said knowingly, she paused with her back to him. "I mean, if Meilin broke down, she could turn to Syaoran, although my cute little descendant would hide, take his pain out with him to train, Sakura would have all of them and you, Yuki would just be transformed away should it ever get to him, Touya would go to Yuki, and Yue would have the support of Sakura, Touya and in some respects, Yuki . . . but you?" He moved forward and put his hands on her shoulders, "I bet you just smile and pretend that nothing out of the ordinary is happening . . ." he leant his chin on her shoulder, and murmured, "Just as always. Tomoyo-chan the Invincible protecting Sakura from sadness . . ."
She pulled away from him, and turned to look at him, she started to cry as she nodded slowly, he smiled slightly and pulled her into his arms, "Shhh . . . it's alright, tell you what . . ." he murmured, "I'll let you be my shoulder to cry on . . ." he pulled back to look her in the eyes, "If you let me be yours . . ."
She tearfully snorted with laughter, and wiped her nose quickly with the back of her hand, "Hiirawagizawa . . . that was so cliché!"
"I know . . ." He sighed theatrically, "Blame it on the past life . . ." he shook his head as he picked up the tray she had been preparing, "I lived through Shakespeare . . ."
Tomoyo laughed lightly. Eriol cast one of his all-knowing smiles at her as he said, "Tell you what . . . when I feel like blubbering like a little girl I'll come to you and then you tell me what colour your underwear is to cheer me up."
She folded her arms, and cocked her head, "I don't think so."
He sighed again, "Okay, fine, a compromise . . . I come bawling to you like a little lass . . . if, when you feel like crying an ocean, you come to me . . ." his voice dropped to a sincere tone for once, " . . . and you let me kiss it better . . ."
She blushed and glanced away, she didn't catch the slightly worried look that passed over Eriol's features, //have I gone to far? // He thought. He forced the smirking grin back into place when she looked back at him.
She walked towards the door, and paused, "Only . . ." she held a finger up at him, "Only if you take that smirk off your face."
He smirked wider, "What smirk?"
"That one" she pointed at him.
"No, trust me," he raised his eyebrows quickly, "This is my face in a normal pose . . ."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah . . . I sleep like this . . ."
Tomoyo nodded slowly unconvinced, "Yeah . . ."
"No seriously . . ." he joined her by the door, "Wanna sleep together and find out?" He grinned, and leaned towards her conspiratorially, "I'll let you take pictures . . ."
"Hiirawagizawa!" she shook her head and walked away.
"Call me Eriol," he called after her, "I love the way you say it!"
-------------------------------------------
And now it's time for LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!
DrM: Konnichiwa!! Because poor ol' Yue is a lil sleepy, here are my co- hosts for today's A/N's --
Syaoran: [interrupting] No, seriously . . . am I?
DrM: What?
Syaoran: Related to a toaster?
DrM: [points at the story] GO READ THE FIC AGAIN! And when you done, review it!
Eriol: I think I mentioned this in the other one, but I'm not that obsessed with Tomoyo's underwear . . . I mean if I really wanted to know I would just-
Tomoyo: Just what Hiirawagizawa?
Eriol: I'd. . . I'd. . . just ask you politely.
Tomoyo: Hands up everyone who thinks he's talking bull . . .
DrM:[raises hand] Anyway minna-chan, I'd just like to put in a lil note to Nakuru. . .
Nakuru: What about me?
DrM: okay, one: I'm never giving back the Master's chair of evil, it's too comfortable . . . two: changing you into Spinel was too much fun and I'm tempted to do it to you again . . . and three . . . I can't think of a 'three' so I'll just say thank you! It's fun when the reviewers play along! Speaking of reviews . . . DON'T FORGET TO R&R PLEASE . . . reviews help to lift Writer's Block . . .HOOEEEEE!!!
Sakura: HEY!! That's my Line!!
I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be!
Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make!
"Speaking"
*Stress/emphasis*
//Thinking//
Guardian Beast of the Seal, Wimpy, Scaredy Cat.
By Dr Megalomania.
Part 5 - I'm not related to a toaster . . . am I?
The next few days Kero was either in a deep slumber or he would be barely conscious. This may have been the only contact any of them had with the lion, but for Sakura and Yue; it appeared to be enough. Sakura returned to full force, she was no longer pallid and ran about the place like usual, Tomoyo (of course) began to film her every movement. Except when she was with Syaoran, Tomoyo still wanted the handsome Chinese boy to admit his feeling to her best friend. Meilin wasn't as possessive over Syaoran as she had been acting, in fact she was very ready to give Syaoran a push in the right direction, even though sometimes it felt more like they were pulling the stubborn boy to the inevitable!
Yukito and Touya were just content to look after the younger teens, and were thankful that they were all on holiday. The group could all put their full energy into getting Kero better quickly. Yue hadn't been heard much from since he had transformed away shortly after making sure Kero was comfortable.
At the dinner table one night, Syaoran brought the subject up. "Yue's been a bit quiet lately . . . is he okay?"
Yukito carefully balanced his bowl atop of the pile he was amassing. "Hmm?" He said distractedly as he leant over the table to get some more food.
"Thank goodness," said Meilin quietly to Tomoyo, "That we are using paper plates! I'd hate to have to wash up after him!"
Yukito smiled as he pretended not to hear the little red-eyed girl, he tucked into the hot stew happily.
Syaoran poured himself and Touya another drink; Touya nodded his thanks, as the brown-eyed boy repeated himself louder, "I said, is Yue all right? I mean; nobody has seen much of him since Kero woke up."
Yuki paused; he stared at the younger boy. Syaoran frowned, "What?"
Yukito continued to stare, then his head dipped slowly as if it suddenly weighed a lot, his eyes slid shut and his fringe covered his brow. The group looked at his in concern, there was no full transformation taking place. After a few quiet moments, Yuki's head rose slowly, he breathed in and regarded the group coolly. His usually warm amber eyes had taken a serious glint as they fell on Syaoran. "I'm fine;" Yuki's voice was now cool like the judgement maker's.
Touya was taken back by this, "Yue?"
Yuki flickered his gaze at Touya, in Yue's usual manner. "Yes?"
"Why are you in Yuki's body? Where's Yuki?"
Yuki's eyes flicked slightly and their warmth returned, "I'm fine To-ya!" Yuki's voice was now his own again.
Meilin blinked and asked the question everyone was thinking, "What is going on with you two?"
Yuki's eyes crinkled with warmth as he explained, "Well, Yue's a little tired--- I most certainly am not!" Yue snapped as he interrupted. Everyone except Tomoyo gapped in shock as Yue and Yuki had their little argument, Tomoyo (of course) was setting up her camera, "How kawaii!!" She gushed.
"Bah!" Barked Yue before Yukito's head dipped once more. Touya reached over to grasp Yukito's shoulder, as the snow bunny looked up once more. Yukito's warm smile and gentle eyes reassured the group it was just Yuki now.
"What happened there?" Asked Sakura quietly.
"Ooohh. . . Yue gets like that when he's sleepy." A deep grumbling voice said from the doorway. Sakura turned to see Keroberos sitting there, shoulders drooping, and smiling tiredly.
"Kero-chan! What are you doing here?!" Tomoyo jumped to her feet and rushed over, "You should be in bed."
"I'm so hungry," he whispered, and gazed longingly at the table, "I feel like I haven't eaten in days . . ."
"You haven't" said Syaoran simply as he stood. He picked up a spare plate and piled it with a few simple pieces of meat. As he past Yuki, the snow bunny's head dipped again. When Yuki's head rose again, he glared at the lion with barely held disapproval, "You should be in bed!" He snapped.
"But I'm so hungry," Kero yawned weakly. "You're all eating without me . . . I could smell the food from upstairs . . . and it smelt like you were all having fun without me . . ."
Yue folded his other form's arms and glared at Kero, "We didn't know you were awake . . . if I had, I would have brought you something."
Kero nibbled at some of the meat Syaoran fed him and looked thoughtfully at Yue's other form. He swallowed, "I'll go back . . ." he offered comprising, " . . . if you come upstairs with me and get some sleep, you're exhausted . . ."
"I most certainly am not!" Yue snapped then flushed a deep red. In Yukito's form he couldn't quite control his facial expressions.
Kero yawned, "That's one of the conditions, Yue . . ."
Yue's blush receded somewhat as he asked, "What's the other?"
Kero's head lolled slightly towards Syaoran, and he grinned lazily, "That the Gaki continues to hand-feed me . . ."
Sakura smiled, "Of course!"
Syaoran glared at Kero, "Awww . . ." he said sarcastically, "You are getting better after all, aren't you?"
Kero smiled, and went to reply but his eyes rolled back and his paws slid out from under him. "Umpft!"
Once Kero was safely upstairs . . . "I'm deadly serious now!" groaned Touya as he, Syaoran and Yuki hauled the sleeping lion up the stairs, "He is *so* going on a diet when he gets better!" . . . Sakura turned to Yuki, "What's wrong with Yue?"
"He's tired," Yuki explained quietly, "We tried to transform at the table, but we couldn't manage the full thing."
"The adrenalin that has been keeping him awake must be wearing off then." Said Tomoyo matter-of-factly as she passed them, she crouched down by Kero holding a small plate of food. She cocked his head to look at him; "I some how don't think he'll be eating anything tonight."
"Good!" Groused Syaoran.
Sakura looked once more at Yuki. "Will both of you . . ."
Yuki's head dipped once, his eyes shutting and opening quickly. He looked at Kero's large sleeping form as he spoke, "We'll be fine, Mistress." Yuki's voice laced with Yue's and combined to create a soft, yet cool, friendly, yet respectful tone. Sakura put her hand on Yukito's arm and lead him away from the rest of the group. She pulled him into the corridor, "I . . ." she began quietly, Yuki/Yue looked at her, his face betraying Yue's tiredness under Yukito usual happy countenance, this sight strengthen her resolve, "Yue. . . I command you to sleep tonight."
She pursued her lips together, and stared at him intensely, it was the first time she had issued an order outside of an emergency. The cool guardian always seemed to be more powerful than she, and she had a hard time believing that she was the one in control.
Yue nodded once, "Yes, Mistress . . ." he murmured, and Yukito's head dipped again, Yuki smiled, "Thank you." He cast one more look into the bedroom where his true form's brother lay then glided softly past Sakura towards her brother's room, he paused in the door way and looked at her. For a few seconds he looked as if he was listening to something, then smiled, "Yue . . . wishes me to say . . ." Yuki dipped his head once respectfully toward her, "Good night, Mistress, sleep well."
Sakura nodded her head in a similar fashion, "You too . . . to the both of you."
As the being in her brother's doorway paused one more time and smiled at her, Sakura wasn't entirely sure who was smiling . . . It was a warm smile like Yukito's but it had shades from Yue's own repressed expression.
The next morning Syaoran went into the kitchen early to start breakfast. He didn't admit it aloud but he was glad that Keroberos had finally woken up and proved that the sickness that had taken him wasn't as serious as they all feared it would be. He knew he wasn't only glad because the effect had cheered Sakura up immensely, and because it was no longer a strain on Yuki, but also because it meant the plush toy he had played 'Insult-and-bite-my- finger' with for the last few years was going to be well.
He was still a little drowsy, and was just rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, when the kettle passed itself to him, "Thank-you." he muttered as he turned to fill it in the sink.
"Oh, already done that," the kettle quite cheerfully informed him.
"Oh . . ." Syaoran turned and put the kettle on. He then turned to the stove, to find it was already cooking a full breakfast.
"And I've already started," the stove told him quite gruffly.
"Oh . . ." Syaoran reached into the breadbin and pulled out a couple of slices.
"I've done that too, my cute little descendant!" The toaster cried with some great amusement.
"Oh . . . thank you . . ." Syaoran stopped and turned back to the bread bin, "Wait . . . I'm not related to a toaster . . ." Syaoran peered at the toaster, " . . . am I?"
The toaster snorted with laugher, and the kettle said to the stove, "He really hasn't woken up yet, has he?"
The stove sighed sharply, "And he wonders why he is not the Card Master!" It spoke to the toaster; "He thinks he's related to a toaster."
The kettle came to a boil, and, as Syaoran continued to stare at the talking toaster in wonderment, passed him a steaming cup of coffee. "Here," it sang bemusedly, "This should clear your head."
"Thank you . . ." he muttered, as he took a sip. His eyes widened as the strong coffee slid down his throat. Then he winced, the coffee was close to undrinkable, he like his coffee black and strong but not so strong that it needed to come with a miniature crowbar to pry your fingers off the cup. He blinked as Ruby moon came swimming into his vision, she grinned. "Good morning . . ." she said, "Still think I'm the kettle?"
Syaoran frowned in confusion, and glanced at the stove, Spinel glance over his shoulder as he propped himself up on his hind paws to peer into the frying pans. He shook his head at Syaoran disapprovingly; "You really do need to get better at waking up."
Syaoran turned to find Eriol standing, leant against the counter near to toaster. He tried for all of six seconds to keep a straight face, "Maybe . . ." he laughed, "We should trace our family history . . . maybe there is a toaster in there somewhere . . ."
Once breakfast was finished, the rest of the house was woken, with the exception of Yukito and Keroberos. "So . . ." began Eriol as he sipped at his tea, "I feel Keroberos . . . he's recovering slowly."
"Uh-huh!" Said Sakura cheerfully; "The other day we came down and found him trying to get a pudding out of the fridge . . . the only problem was he had fallen asleep before he could eat it!"
Eriol laughed, "That sounds like Keroberos."
Tomoyo smiled; "Have you found anything in your books that could help him?"
Eriol looked down at his plate, "No, I haven't," he said with disappointment, "I simply never took into account my guardians would ever fall ill. Therefore I assumed that they would be able to recover from any illness as they would any injury . . . I never cast any spell that would strengthen either of their immune systems . . ."
Nakura put her hand over Eriol's, it was clear that the young boy had stayed up every night searching hard for a cure, "That's why we're here today!" She said quickly, she nodded strongly; "We're going to help take care of Keroberos."
She cast a sidelong glance at Spinel; the two had other reasons for bring Eriol here . . .
A soft knock at his door caused Spinel to look up, "Come." He said softly knowing who it was.
Ruby entered in her false form, they had taken to their false forms during the night so not to disturb their Master, and to limit his perception that either of them was moving around.
"Spinel . . .?" He shuffled up on the bed and indicated that she should sit down. She was quiet and looked as if she was on the verge of tears, it wasn't the first night she was like this, ever since they had found out about Keroberos' illness, the Master had locked himself in his study, pouring over all of his old books, and the new ones he had written since their creation.
Both of the two guardians would take it in turns to creep up to the study and peer thru the door, to check on him. Sometimes they found him working diligently, scribbling away at a notebook, sometimes they would find him screwing a paper up, rejecting the spell he had worked out just as he had several others. Times when they would find him asleep on his books, and times when they'd find him gazing worriedly out of the window. One time Spinel had found him gently stroking a page from a book they knew only as his Oldest Book, they knew the book contained things from his past life . . . feathers from both Yue and Keroberos, a lock of hair from Yue's fringe and a lock from Keroberos' tail and the detailed pictures he had drawn of them before he had created them and after. Or another time Ruby had found him holding the Oldest Book close to his chest, one elbow leant heavily on the desk, and his fist pressed hard against his mouth, staring hard at the rejected pile of spells and notes, dejectedly.
"Spinel . . ." said Ruby, she only used his name properly when she was upset, "Spinel . . . he's crying again . . ."
Spinel shoulder's slumped, it was distressing for them to think that he was upset about something that they could neither help nor solve.
"What are we going to do?" She dropped off the bed to kneel closer to him, "We have to do something, he's not sleeping or eating properly . . ."
Spinel folded his arms, and stared out the window, "We'll take him to see the Card Mistress . . . perhaps, since he can't find a cure, perhaps caring for the guardian beast with the help of the others will help . . ."
. . . Nakura looked at her Master, it might have not been apparent to the others seated around the table, but the boy magician was paler than usual. They had left an hour before sunrise, and had come straight over to the house. They had left so early so the Master could look in on Keroberos without the others bothering him. As Ruby and Spinel moved quietly around the house doing little jobs such as tidying and preparing the day's meal, he had sat with Keroberos quietly, whispering his apologies and stroking his fur.
Spinel pulled the gathered group's attention away from Eriol again by stating loudly, "If . . . you do not mind that we stay here as well . . . it would be very draining on us to fly here every day!"
As Touya answered the blue panther, Tomoyo glanced at Eriol, although his guardians were trying very hard to distract attention away from him, she had noticed what they hoped to conceal. She stood, "I'm going to get some more food," she glanced around the table needlessly as if looking around for someone to help, her eyes fell on Eriol. "Eriol? Would you mind lending me a hand?"
He glanced up from his plate and nodded. He followed her silently.
"Are you all right?" She asked him quietly, as they walked the short distance to the kitchen.
He thought about it for a few moments, "Yes . . . I am now." He blushed, "Is it really that obvious that I'm having a rough time of it, or are Ruby and Spinel trying too hard to hide it?"
Tomoyo chuckled a little, "A little of both." She sighed, "I'm glad he's getting better . . ."
Eriol watched the purple haired girl closely as she moved around collecting the promised food, "Must have been hard . . ."
"What?"
"Pretending that you knew it was going to turn out like this," he said knowingly, she paused with her back to him. "I mean, if Meilin broke down, she could turn to Syaoran, although my cute little descendant would hide, take his pain out with him to train, Sakura would have all of them and you, Yuki would just be transformed away should it ever get to him, Touya would go to Yuki, and Yue would have the support of Sakura, Touya and in some respects, Yuki . . . but you?" He moved forward and put his hands on her shoulders, "I bet you just smile and pretend that nothing out of the ordinary is happening . . ." he leant his chin on her shoulder, and murmured, "Just as always. Tomoyo-chan the Invincible protecting Sakura from sadness . . ."
She pulled away from him, and turned to look at him, she started to cry as she nodded slowly, he smiled slightly and pulled her into his arms, "Shhh . . . it's alright, tell you what . . ." he murmured, "I'll let you be my shoulder to cry on . . ." he pulled back to look her in the eyes, "If you let me be yours . . ."
She tearfully snorted with laughter, and wiped her nose quickly with the back of her hand, "Hiirawagizawa . . . that was so cliché!"
"I know . . ." He sighed theatrically, "Blame it on the past life . . ." he shook his head as he picked up the tray she had been preparing, "I lived through Shakespeare . . ."
Tomoyo laughed lightly. Eriol cast one of his all-knowing smiles at her as he said, "Tell you what . . . when I feel like blubbering like a little girl I'll come to you and then you tell me what colour your underwear is to cheer me up."
She folded her arms, and cocked her head, "I don't think so."
He sighed again, "Okay, fine, a compromise . . . I come bawling to you like a little lass . . . if, when you feel like crying an ocean, you come to me . . ." his voice dropped to a sincere tone for once, " . . . and you let me kiss it better . . ."
She blushed and glanced away, she didn't catch the slightly worried look that passed over Eriol's features, //have I gone to far? // He thought. He forced the smirking grin back into place when she looked back at him.
She walked towards the door, and paused, "Only . . ." she held a finger up at him, "Only if you take that smirk off your face."
He smirked wider, "What smirk?"
"That one" she pointed at him.
"No, trust me," he raised his eyebrows quickly, "This is my face in a normal pose . . ."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah . . . I sleep like this . . ."
Tomoyo nodded slowly unconvinced, "Yeah . . ."
"No seriously . . ." he joined her by the door, "Wanna sleep together and find out?" He grinned, and leaned towards her conspiratorially, "I'll let you take pictures . . ."
"Hiirawagizawa!" she shook her head and walked away.
"Call me Eriol," he called after her, "I love the way you say it!"
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And now it's time for LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!
DrM: Konnichiwa!! Because poor ol' Yue is a lil sleepy, here are my co- hosts for today's A/N's --
Syaoran: [interrupting] No, seriously . . . am I?
DrM: What?
Syaoran: Related to a toaster?
DrM: [points at the story] GO READ THE FIC AGAIN! And when you done, review it!
Eriol: I think I mentioned this in the other one, but I'm not that obsessed with Tomoyo's underwear . . . I mean if I really wanted to know I would just-
Tomoyo: Just what Hiirawagizawa?
Eriol: I'd. . . I'd. . . just ask you politely.
Tomoyo: Hands up everyone who thinks he's talking bull . . .
DrM:[raises hand] Anyway minna-chan, I'd just like to put in a lil note to Nakuru. . .
Nakuru: What about me?
DrM: okay, one: I'm never giving back the Master's chair of evil, it's too comfortable . . . two: changing you into Spinel was too much fun and I'm tempted to do it to you again . . . and three . . . I can't think of a 'three' so I'll just say thank you! It's fun when the reviewers play along! Speaking of reviews . . . DON'T FORGET TO R&R PLEASE . . . reviews help to lift Writer's Block . . .HOOEEEEE!!!
Sakura: HEY!! That's my Line!!